Normally my man doesn't love "old lady" names, but he surprised me with Eve! It is a little popular lately, unfortunately, but his other options (Emma, Riley, Haley, Isabelle, etc) were about the same Originally I was aiming for out of the top 100, but it seems the few names we agree on are high up there

I love Eve! I liked the sweet openness of it, the simplicity, the easy option of Evie (which I adore!). It was on my list long before Eva was. But then things about it bothered me--it is so short, compared to all my other favorites (could Isabelle and Eve be sisters? Naturally? Liliana and Eve?). It seems like a Biblical choice a lot of secular people like (I'm not sure why. I think a lot of Christians are bothered by the fact that she's the first sinner, but to non-Christians, it's just a nice name from the Bible? Maybe they even respect Eve from a feminism standpoint?), but if I was going to use a Bible name, I wanted one my child would be proud to hear in the middle of a sermon at church, not cringe at. And it's not like I think Eve was unredeemable, I think she was. I think after the fall both Adam and Eve both fully embraced forgiveness and eagerly awaited the day the Messiah would come. I am not sure why Eve has a stigma, and Adam doesn't. That does seem a bit misogynistic to me, but she was the one who originally chose to sin, so maybe it has that stigma, just like Pandora does from Greek Mythology. Plus, I remembered seeing this Disney Channel movie when I was much younger, haha, about this doll whose name was Eve and she came to life, and she was fun, and cool, don't get me wrong, but she was so naive, and on top of that, she was so plastic and fake, and I think that sort of image came to be what I saw an Eve as--a real-life Barbie with a plastic personality. And that wasn't something I wanted for my daughter at all. I still like the openness and sweetness of Eve, though--I just know I would never use it in a million years as a FN. I would love to see someone else use it, though, and I would consider it as a MN for the right combo. As a MN, it reminds me more of evening (and maybe even ChristmasEve) rather than the Biblical Eve, and it reminds me of beautiful purple and peach and turquoise sunsets and redemption and such. I know. I know. I'm so fickle. :/

I do love Eva, though--it represents the life and redemption of Eve to me, without all the negative imagery and connotations. Plus, I met THE most adorable little girl named Eva at my last job, so I sort of carry this image of an adorable, bundled-up little girl in a bright pink coat and a floral pink dress with the most beautiful smile, springy chocolate curls, bright blue eyes, and a contagious laugh. I think Eva is fab, it's on my own list.